Gilchrist, Anne Burrows (1828–1885)

Author:

Alcaro, Marion Walker

Print source:

Anne Burrows Gilchrist was born in London, the daughter of a prominent
solicitor and, through her mother, the descendant of an old and
distinguished family in Essex. A brilliant student, after completing the
courses at a school for girls, she continued her education on her own,
reading widely in science and philosophy. During the ten years of her
marriage to Alexander Gilchrist, a young writer, in addition to having four
children and acting as her husband's critic and amanuensis, she published
five scientific essays and a book for children. After Alexander's death in
1861, with the help of his friends William Michael and Dante Gabriel
Rossetti, Anne finished his biography of Blake, still a standard
reference.

Anne Gilchrist is best known in American literature as the Englishwoman
who fell passionately in love with Walt Whitman when she read Leaves of
Grass, lent to her by William Rossetti in 1869. Undaunted by words and
subject matter that shocked most Victorians, she recognized that this was a
great work of art. Privately, she also responded to the poems by falling in
love with the poet. She wrote a series of enthusiastic letters to Rossetti,
who, realizing that this was exactly the kind of appreciative criticism that
Whitman desperately needed, persuaded her to rewrite them for publication.
"A Woman's Estimate of Walt Whitman" (changed to "An Englishwoman's Estimate
of Walt Whitman" in 1887 by Herbert Gilchrist) was published anonymously in
Boston in 1870. This brilliantly analytical essay, with its unqualified
defense of Whitman, established Anne Gilchrist as one of the first great
critics of Leaves of Grass.

To Anne's disappointment, Whitman sent his thanks to the anonymous writer
through Rossetti. After a year, she wrote a long letter directly to the
poet: introducing herself, confessing her love and her conviction that she
was the ideal mate whom she believed "the tenderest lover" was seeking; and
telling him that, when circumstances permitted, she planned to go to America
to be near him. Walt's reply was cautious but kind. For six years they
exchanged letters. Hers were frequent and ardent, his less frequent and
friendly. However, Anne's belief that once they met Walt would return her
love with equal ardor never waned. In 1876, although Walt tried to dissuade
her, Anne came to Philadelphia bringing with her three of her children and
her furniture, pictures, china, silver, and books.

Anne and Walt met in the hotel where the Gilchrists were staying until
they found a house. For both, the meeting had an unexpected outcome. If Walt
had been uneasy about meeting the woman who had wooed him for six years, his
fears vanished when he met Anne Gilchrist. He was instantly taken with the
charming Englishwoman and her attractive children, and felt wonderfully
comfortable with them. For Anne, the encounter was both a blow and a
revelation. From their first handclasp, it was clear that, although the poet
was genuinely glad to see her, the responding fervor that she had hoped for
was not there and never would be. It was the end of her romantic fantasy,
but the beginning of a loving friendship that lasted all their lives.

The two years that the Gilchrists lived in Philadelphia was a happy period
for Walt. He was an almost daily visitor at their house on North 22nd
Street, entertaining his friends as freely as if it were his own, and
sometimes living there in a room that was always kept ready for him. He was
devoted to Anne's children: Beatrice, a medical student; Herbert, an artist;
and Grace, who studied singing. For the only time in his life, Walt was the
father figure in a family that included children and was presided over by,
in his words, "a true wife & mother" (Whitman 91). What delighted
him most, however, was the sparkle and depth of his conversations with Anne.
They discussed art, science, literature, philosophy, politics, and
personalities—always with spirit, if not always in agreement. "The
best of her was her talk," Walt would tell Traubel in one of his tender
reminiscences (Traubel 268). And to William Sloane Kennedy he wrote that
with Anne "you did not have to abate the wing of your thought downward at
all, in deference to any feminine narrowness of mind" (qtd. in Alcaro
178).

The Gilchrists left Philadelphia in April, 1878, and spent the following
year in Concord, Boston, and New York. Anne became a celebrity. Wherever she
went, the gracious friend of the Carlyles, Tennysons, Rossettis, and the
Pre-Raphaelites—with her "fine presence" that Horace Scudder
recalled with admiration (qtd. in Alcaro 195)—was lionized in
literary circles. Anne and Walt met briefly in New York before the
Gilchrists left America in 1879. Their parting was deeply emotional. After
her return to England, Anne wrote "A Confession of Faith," a second essay on
Leaves of Grass; edited a second edition of the Life of
Blake; and wrote a biography of Mary Lamb, still in print. Walt remained
a focal point in her life. Her letters—no longer passionate but
reflecting a loving companionship—were frequent, and she worked
tirelessly to raise funds for him. Anne died in 1885. Whitman's "Going
Somewhere" was written for her: "My science-friend, my noblest woman-friend,
/ (Now buried in an English grave—and this a memory-leaf for her
dear sake . . . )."